Transcranial brain parenchyma sonography in movement disorders

The diagnosis and discrimination of movement disorders is very difficult in clinical medicine. We usually make a diagnosis according to symptoms and physical examination when the disease develops to a certain stage, but with few objective criteria. Pathological result can provide a definite diagnosis. Recently, a new examination named transcranial sonography (TCS) has been used in the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD) in Europe. It is also helpful in the diagnosis of other movement disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. The advantages of TCS include non⁃invasion, making a diagnosis at the early stage of disease, convenience and short testing time. We give a review about TCS in four parts: the historical development of TCS, the principle of TCS in diagnosing movement disorders, the applications of TCS in movement disorders and the advantages and disadvantages of TCS. DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1672⁃6731.2012.05.021